COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Penn State ends season with overtime win over Wisconsin

Monday

Nov 26, 2012 at 9:02 AMNov 26, 2012 at 9:06 AM

It was a fitting sendoff for a team forced to shoulder an unprecedented burden.

STATE COLLEGE – It was a fitting sendoff for a team forced to shoulder an unprecedented burden.In many ways, Penn State’s 24-21 overtime victory against Wisconsin in Saturday’s finale at Beaver Stadium was a microcosm of the Nittany Lions’ season, overcoming early uncertainty with collective perseverance.Significant sanctions handed down from both the NCAA and the Big Ten stemming from the Jerry Sandusky scandal marked an offseason unlike any other, leaving first-year head coach Bill O’Brien and a group of loyal returnees to pick up the pieces.Considering the circumstances, paired with an 0-2 start, few could have envisioned what ultimately unfolded, with the Nittany Lions winning eight of their final 10 games, capped by Saturday’s emotional rally against the Badgers to finish 8-4 overall.“It was a storybook ending,” Penn State defensive tackle Jordan Hill said. “It was a perfect ending to a bad beginning. I felt the whole game it really told the story about what we went through all year, being knocked down early and being able to get back up.”Hill’s performance on Saturday exemplified the comparison, with the senior captain spearheading a stellar defensive effort by the Nittany Lions in the second half to spark the comeback.After struggling to contain the Wisconsin (7-5) offense through the first two quarters, resulting in a 14-7 deficit at the half, Penn State held the Badgers to a mere 17 yards in the third quarter, allowing the Nittany Lions to draw within one (14-13) on two Sam Ficken field goals entering the fourth.The shift in momentum carried into the final frame as quarterback Matt McGloin connected with Jesse James for a 41-yard touchdown with 13:32 remaining, giving Penn State its first lead at 21-14 following Zach Zwinak’s two-point conversion.With the defense continuing to stifle Wisconsin’s production, the advantage stood until the Badgers’ final drive of regulation, as a 4-yard completion from Curt Phillips to Jeff Duckworth tied the contest with 18 seconds left to play, resulting in the decisive extra period.First to possess the ball, a pair of incompletions paired with a 6-yard gain by Zwinak set up a 37-yard try for Ficken, with the sophomore converting his third field goal of the game for a 24-21 Penn State lead.Needing at least a field goal, three Wisconsin plays failed to produce a first down, with kicker Kyle French’s ensuing 44-yarder sailing wide left, sending a blissful shockwave throughout the place still known as Happy Valley.“I feel great for these kids, especially these seniors,” O’Brien said. “They put in a lot of work. You go all the way back to when I first came here after the Super Bowl (as offensive coordinator of the New England Patriots) and started the 5:30 a.m. workouts, then all the things that came up during the offseason off the field. Again, it may be a little redundant, but I’ve been around some special teams and this is a very special football team because of the players and especially the seniors.”Hill’s 12-tackle performance, including two sacks and three for a loss, headlined a class of 31 Nittany Lion seniors honored before Saturday’s game.Perhaps the loudest ovation of the afternoon by the 93,505 in attendance came during the introduction of senior linebacker Michael Mauti, who was forced to miss the final game of his storied career with a knee injury suffered in last week’s win over Indiana.In recognition of his leadership and dedication to the program, each Nittany Lion player wore Mauti’s No. 42 on their helmet while fellow senior linebacker Gerald Hodges sported the No. 42 uniform in admiration of his teammate.“I thought it was a great gesture by Gerald to do that,” O’Brien said. “On the 42 on the helmets, the seniors came to me and wanted to do something for Mike and that’s what they decided to do. The seniors had that idea and that shows what Michael Mauti meant to this football team.”McGloin, who finished his career with a PSU-record 46 passing touchdowns, completed 19-of-37 attempts for 200 yards and a score in his final game as Penn State’s signal caller.Zwinak capped his breakout sophomore campaign with a career-high 179 rushing yards on 36 carries, handling a heavy workload out of the Nittany Lion backfield while reaching the 1,000-yard plateau for the year. He also added a 3-yard touchdown run to tie the game in the first quarter.Montee Ball was again the focal point of Wisconsin’s production, rushing for 111 yards on 27 carries. Ball also set a new career NCAA FBS touchdown record with his 17-yard score in the first quarter, moving his career total to 79.Despite finishing third in the Leaders Division behind unbeaten Ohio State and Penn State, Wisconsin will face Legends Division champion Nebraska in the Big Ten Championship Game this Saturday due to both OSU and PSU being ruled ineligible for postseason play, including conference championship and bowl games.

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